Please join us today as we bring you some of the leading experts from accross the University who will discuss healthcare reform in the country and in Pennsylvania. The event -- Reforming Health CARE: In the Public Interest -- will take place Wednesday, November 18th at 2:30p.m. in the Ann L. Roy Auditorium of the School of Nursing.
How do we solve the problem of the existing shortage of primary care providers that would only exacerbate by expanding insurance to millions of uninsured? Are there implications of Pennsylvania’s healthcare reform strategies for other states? What healthcare reform bills offer the best opportunity to redesign care to produce better patient outcomes?
These are just some of the many questions that will be addressed and answered at today's dialogue that will bring together healthcare experts from across the University as well as the architect of Rx for Pennsylvania, the governor’s blueprint for improving access, quality, and affordability of healthcare.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Recommended Reading
If you haven’t already read the article from The New York Times magazine about the injustices suffered by women in the poorest countries of the world and the need for foreign aid directed to women, then I encourage you to read it now:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?em#
Written by New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof and a former Times correspondent, Sheryl WuDunn, the essay is adapted from their book, Half Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
“In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy,” the authors write. “With education and with help starting businesses, impoverished women can earn money and support their countries as well as their families. They represent perhaps the best hope for fighting global poverty.”
Here are some facts from the essay:
• An obscure but meticulous demographic study that outlined a human rights violation that had claimed tens of thousands more lives… found that 39,000 baby girls died annually in China because parents didn’t give them the same medical care and attention that boys received — and that was just in the first year of life.
• In India, a “bride burning” takes place approximately once every two hours to punish a woman for an inadequate dowry or to eliminate her so a man can remarry…
• It appears that more girls and women are now missing from the planet, precisely because they are female, than men were killed on the battlefield in all the wars of the 20th century. The number of victims of this routine “gendercide” far exceeds the number of people who were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century.
• In the West African country Niger, a woman stands a one-in-seven chance of dying in childbirth at some point in her life.
We should all be morally outraged, and we must support all that can eliminate oppression, inequity, marginalization, and violence. As educators, it is our duty to expose our students to such writing and encourage a dialogue about issues and solutions. Nurses are part of the solution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?em#
Written by New York Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof and a former Times correspondent, Sheryl WuDunn, the essay is adapted from their book, Half Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
“In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy,” the authors write. “With education and with help starting businesses, impoverished women can earn money and support their countries as well as their families. They represent perhaps the best hope for fighting global poverty.”
Here are some facts from the essay:
• An obscure but meticulous demographic study that outlined a human rights violation that had claimed tens of thousands more lives… found that 39,000 baby girls died annually in China because parents didn’t give them the same medical care and attention that boys received — and that was just in the first year of life.
• In India, a “bride burning” takes place approximately once every two hours to punish a woman for an inadequate dowry or to eliminate her so a man can remarry…
• It appears that more girls and women are now missing from the planet, precisely because they are female, than men were killed on the battlefield in all the wars of the 20th century. The number of victims of this routine “gendercide” far exceeds the number of people who were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century.
• In the West African country Niger, a woman stands a one-in-seven chance of dying in childbirth at some point in her life.
We should all be morally outraged, and we must support all that can eliminate oppression, inequity, marginalization, and violence. As educators, it is our duty to expose our students to such writing and encourage a dialogue about issues and solutions. Nurses are part of the solution.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Transitional Care Legislation
I am proud to write to you about the stellar testimony before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee by one of our faculty which has led to Congressional bills that are likely to enhance quality of care and decrease disparities. As many of you know, Mary D Naylor, PhD, FAAN, RN, the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and director of NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, has been in the forefront of research producing the evidence for a care model to assist and manage the multiplicity of health problems of frail elders as they move from hospital to home. This transitional care model has the potential of enhancing the quality of life of these patients and their families as well as decreasing cost.
Currently, Dr. Naylor’s model has the potential, with your help, to become law. Findings from her and her team’s research form the basis of the “Medicare Transitional Care Act (H.R.2773) sponsored by Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Charles Boustany (R-LA) which was introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives. This important legislation is designed to eliminate the thousands of preventable hospital readmissions that occur each year by providing high quality transitional care to high-risk Medicare beneficiaries throughout episodes of acute illness.
Since 1989, Dr. Naylor has led an interdisciplinary program of research designed to improve outcomes and reduce costs of care for vulnerable community-based elders. To date, Dr. Naylor and her research team have completed three National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)-funded randomized clinical trials focusing on discharge planning and home follow up of high-risk elders by advanced practice nurses. Dr. Naylor and her team of researchers partnered with Aetna Corporation and Kaiser Permanente Health Plan to apply the model in everyday practice. Throughout testing, the model has proven to provide improved quality of care at lower cost by reducing the number of hospital readmissions. One study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that one-third of Medicare beneficiaries are rehospitalized within 90 days leading to billions of dollars of Medicare payments on unplanned hospital readmission. In short, nurse-conducted research is poised to make an impact on the nation’s healthcare and budget by becoming a Medicare benefit.
If you agree that transitional care should be legislated and supported, please consider asking your representatives in Congress to support this bill. You can easily find your representative by entering your zip code on this website: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.
Currently, Dr. Naylor’s model has the potential, with your help, to become law. Findings from her and her team’s research form the basis of the “Medicare Transitional Care Act (H.R.2773) sponsored by Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Charles Boustany (R-LA) which was introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives. This important legislation is designed to eliminate the thousands of preventable hospital readmissions that occur each year by providing high quality transitional care to high-risk Medicare beneficiaries throughout episodes of acute illness.
Since 1989, Dr. Naylor has led an interdisciplinary program of research designed to improve outcomes and reduce costs of care for vulnerable community-based elders. To date, Dr. Naylor and her research team have completed three National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)-funded randomized clinical trials focusing on discharge planning and home follow up of high-risk elders by advanced practice nurses. Dr. Naylor and her team of researchers partnered with Aetna Corporation and Kaiser Permanente Health Plan to apply the model in everyday practice. Throughout testing, the model has proven to provide improved quality of care at lower cost by reducing the number of hospital readmissions. One study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that one-third of Medicare beneficiaries are rehospitalized within 90 days leading to billions of dollars of Medicare payments on unplanned hospital readmission. In short, nurse-conducted research is poised to make an impact on the nation’s healthcare and budget by becoming a Medicare benefit.
If you agree that transitional care should be legislated and supported, please consider asking your representatives in Congress to support this bill. You can easily find your representative by entering your zip code on this website: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Happy National Nurses' Week
In anticipation of National Nurses’ Week, May 6-12, 2009, I wanted to take this time to thank you for choosing to become a member of the profession of nursing. As nurses, you are at the center of health care wherever you work locally, nationally, or globally. Each day you make a difference in the lives of people and their families because you truly care to save lives, to alleviate suffering, and because you have the passion to change the world.
Whether you are studying to be a nurse, practicing nursing at the bedside, conducting nursing research and advancing science, bringing along the next generation of nurses, or using your nursing competencies in some other part of your life, I applaud you for choosing to be a member of the “caring profession”. So during National Nurses’ Week, let me salute you and thank you for all you have done and all that you will do in the future as a PENN NURSE.
Whether you are studying to be a nurse, practicing nursing at the bedside, conducting nursing research and advancing science, bringing along the next generation of nurses, or using your nursing competencies in some other part of your life, I applaud you for choosing to be a member of the “caring profession”. So during National Nurses’ Week, let me salute you and thank you for all you have done and all that you will do in the future as a PENN NURSE.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Take action to prevent child marriage
Sixty million girls around the world are married before the age of 17. You can help bring this practice to an end.
Child marriage is a human rights violation that puts young girls at risk and keeps them mired in poverty. They need your protection.
Please ask your member of Congress to help prevent child marriage by co-sponsoring the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009. At this week's CARE National Conference and Celebration in Washington, D.C., advocates from around the country will be making the same request of their members of Congress. Join them.
When a girl is forced to marry at a young age, it diminishes her chance at an education, endangers her health and has long-lasting and dire consequences not only to her, but to her family and community as well.
Young brides are:
• More likely to become young mothers. Girls under the age of 15 are five times more likely to die of childbirth than women in their 20s.
• More likely to drop out of school and have limited economic opportunities in the future, which keeps them and their families locked in the cycle of poverty.
• Twice as likely to suffer domestic violence and more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.
The cost of these marriages is too high to be ignored. I encourage you to ask your members of Congress to take immediate action.
The United States can use its leadership to prevent child marriage. This important legislation recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and develops a comprehensive strategy to prevent these marriages and empower young girls.
Please join me in ensuring that no girl is forced into an early marriage. Ask your representatives to co-sponsor the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009. Thank you for helping to empower young girls around the world.
Child marriage is a human rights violation that puts young girls at risk and keeps them mired in poverty. They need your protection.
Please ask your member of Congress to help prevent child marriage by co-sponsoring the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009. At this week's CARE National Conference and Celebration in Washington, D.C., advocates from around the country will be making the same request of their members of Congress. Join them.
When a girl is forced to marry at a young age, it diminishes her chance at an education, endangers her health and has long-lasting and dire consequences not only to her, but to her family and community as well.
Young brides are:
• More likely to become young mothers. Girls under the age of 15 are five times more likely to die of childbirth than women in their 20s.
• More likely to drop out of school and have limited economic opportunities in the future, which keeps them and their families locked in the cycle of poverty.
• Twice as likely to suffer domestic violence and more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.
The cost of these marriages is too high to be ignored. I encourage you to ask your members of Congress to take immediate action.
The United States can use its leadership to prevent child marriage. This important legislation recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and develops a comprehensive strategy to prevent these marriages and empower young girls.
Please join me in ensuring that no girl is forced into an early marriage. Ask your representatives to co-sponsor the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009. Thank you for helping to empower young girls around the world.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Loan repayment for nurses
Representative Tom Latham (R-IA) has introduced the “Nurses’ Higher Education and Loan Repayment Act of 2009” (H.R. 1460). The bill would amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a graduate degree loan repayment program for nurses who become faculty members for at least four of the six years after completing their degree. Repayment for a master’s degree would be up to $10,000 per year with an aggregate $40,000 cap; for a doctorate, annual payments could be up to $20,000 with an $80,000 cap. Appropriations for the program would be “such sums as may be necessary” for FY 10 - FY 14.
Given the dire shortage of nurses, this legislation could have tremendous impact on encouraging individuals to enter the profession. I commend Representative Latham for his effort to address one of the gravest challenges in our healthcare system.
Bill text is available via thomas.loc.gov by searching for the bill number.
Given the dire shortage of nurses, this legislation could have tremendous impact on encouraging individuals to enter the profession. I commend Representative Latham for his effort to address one of the gravest challenges in our healthcare system.
Bill text is available via thomas.loc.gov by searching for the bill number.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
CARE to celebrate International Women’s Day
As champions of issues concerning global poverty, social justice, and the hope for change, Penn Nursing is proud to encourage students, alumni, and friends to attend “A Powerful Noise,” a documentary playing in more than 450 theatres nationwide for one night only tonight, Thursday, March 5, 2009.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, CARE and NCM Fathom , in partnership with ONE and the UN Commission on the Status of Women, will show the film, “A Powerful Noise,” which features the stories of three inspiring women:
Madame Urbain — an activist working to educate and empower young women and girls in the slums of Bamako , Mali;
Bui My Hanh — an HIV-positive widow helping others combat the spread of HIV and the social stigma associated with the disease in Vietnam; and
Nada Markovic — a survivor of the brutal Bosnian War bringing women together to rebuild their once-tranquil community
These women are embodying the Penn Nursing motto. They care to change the world, and their stories will inspire. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.fathomevents.com/details.aspx?eventid=769&utm_source=CARE&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=APowerfulNoise. More than 30 percent of ticket purchases will go directly to support the work of CARE, a leading humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering marginalized women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities.
As a board member for CARE, as council general of the International Council of Women’s Health Issues, and as someone who has made the rights of girls and women across the globe not just an area of research but a passion, I encourage everyone to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th by thinking of the many ways we can work, individually, on improving the care for all women, all over the world.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, CARE and NCM Fathom , in partnership with ONE and the UN Commission on the Status of Women, will show the film, “A Powerful Noise,” which features the stories of three inspiring women:
Madame Urbain — an activist working to educate and empower young women and girls in the slums of Bamako , Mali;
Bui My Hanh — an HIV-positive widow helping others combat the spread of HIV and the social stigma associated with the disease in Vietnam; and
Nada Markovic — a survivor of the brutal Bosnian War bringing women together to rebuild their once-tranquil community
These women are embodying the Penn Nursing motto. They care to change the world, and their stories will inspire. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.fathomevents.com/details.aspx?eventid=769&utm_source=CARE&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=APowerfulNoise. More than 30 percent of ticket purchases will go directly to support the work of CARE, a leading humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering marginalized women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities.
As a board member for CARE, as council general of the International Council of Women’s Health Issues, and as someone who has made the rights of girls and women across the globe not just an area of research but a passion, I encourage everyone to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th by thinking of the many ways we can work, individually, on improving the care for all women, all over the world.
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